Friday, October 8, 2010

Kings Canyon, NT (17-18 June, 2010)

Our next stop after Yulara was the campground at Kings Creek Station, a working cattle station near Kings Canyon.  To get to Kings Creek Station from Yulara we had to travel back along the Lasseter Highway, then turn left onto the Luritja road which lead to the station.  Trivia Time: what is the difference between a Canyon and a Gorge? Answer is at the bottom of this posting.  The campgrounds are rustic and very appealing; red earth, covered BBQ area, deep fire pits with stone surrounds, plenty of shade trees, large clean shower cubicles and even a swimming pool. To use the one and only (fairly new) washing machine, the cost is a voluntary gold coin donation to The Royal Flying Doctor Service, a fantastic idea. The machine sits in a tiny outdoor, undercover setting in the grounds.  The Station has quad bikes for hire, camel rides and helicopter flights, Sadly, (for the staff of the station), when we were there a long term employee (of the Station) had died, and most of the staff were off in Alice Springs attending the funeral, so no rides were available, which did  not worry us. 
I was fortunate to be able to climb the rugged path up to the top of Kings Canon when I was there 30 years go, but, old age has caught up with me!  My Bursitis (which affects my knee and hip) was giving me heck and Mags could hardly walk because a problem with her foot and back; which left Bucko as the only one who was fit enough to do the climb, however, he decided to stay at the base with us and do the creek walk.  What a sweetheart. The creek walk is stunning, it takes about 1 hour, following the path of the creek, which wends its way through huge magnificent Red River Gums, huge fallen Mereenie Sandstone rocks, (the last major rock fall was in the 1930s),  surrounded by towering walls of red rock, ending at a deep, dark emerald/jade green waterhole.  From the Creek  Walk we could look up and see people who had done the climb looking down at us. I feel very lucky to have been able to see both sides of this wonderful part of the outback.  
One Friday morning (18th) we drove up to the Kings Creek Resort to take a trip in a helicopter, Mags had never been in one, so it was all very exciting for her. The flight took us over Kings Canyon and to the area behind the canyon, which is like a pound; high walls, surrounding flat grazing land with a creek flowing through, the creek flows into Kathleen Springs, which is in Kathleen Gorge.  A lone camel could be seen wandering around, below the helicopter.
Trivia Answer: Gorge is an English word and Canyon is American, both mean the same thing!

No comments:

Post a Comment